If an album sounds noisy, harsh, and just thumps to the point that it makes you jump up and down. Then this sparks joy. When URGH by Mandy, Indiana released earlier made me go on an industrial kick so I’ve been listening to the genre’s past works. So, it was auspicious timing when their single “Legs in a Snare” fell onto my lap. It had elements of industrial punk and hip hop with these distorted samplers and loud drums just tickling my brain. It’s perfect. So, I was riding the high of these released singles, just waiting for the album’s release and twiddling my fingers like some evil lord. So, after many months after release I write that this is one of my favorite industrial albums. If you like your abrasive, eccentric, beats with nihilistic songwriting, then this is the jam. Since I’ve never heard of these guys before, I learned they’ve already released an album previously being Hex Dealer and from what I’ve heard, it has been received well. I still need to listen to that, because I’ve been loving Theft World ever since they released it on May. These beasts are from Brooklyn and consist of four members with Bret Kaser, Connor Kleitz, Danny Eberle, and Michael Sandvig. I thought there were guitars in this album, but this group has a vocalist, two drummers, and others working samplers. Their interview with Alternative Press, states they are just some dudes getting together who want to not take their music seriously, which they subconsciously gloriously failed at doing. They also love to pull as many influences as they can such as Death Grips and Machine Girl, so you can tell how they got their sound from. And with those influences, they have embraced a bombastic sound that Theft World became, and they slam their subtleties with a sledgehammer. And with 31 minutes and change, they don’t overstay their welcome and provides bangers for your bucks. The explosive destruction this album provides makes you want to move around and not caring what gets in the way. It’s a danceable listen indeed. Death Grips fans have probably already got onto this train, because the power thing has makes you want to headbang too. This album is all about expression and that expression is turned up to eleven. The idiosyncrasies would not pop as prominent without not only these out of world beats, but the delivery of Kaser’s vocals. He kind of reminds me of Fred Schneider of The B-52s on how he delivers, but gets jarring when he goes all screamo. It gives that not giving a fuck energy, which makes them punk heads to their audience. You can argue these guys make dance music, but it’s on their terms. Hell, look up their performance of “Legs in a Snare” inside a laundromat. They touch the serious topics without being serious as a form of escapism. Many reasons to escape are here, because we are forced to face the grim reality and Kaser touches these hard subjects. However, there is a lot of non-apologetic absurdity here, that you cannot deny this record has a personality.
“Two Lucks” being the opener shows us how eccentric and aggressive they get, but you have bars like, “Always knowing eyes love the barrel and the barrel loves me.”, is a lot. “Jackpot” sounds like a pachinko machine that is on the fritz, while Kaser talks about trying to suppress an addiction, which is an appropriate subject on the sound. I loved this as a single and I still love it, as the beat is so unconventional and sounds like a march of some sort with these Stomp-like trashcan lids. I do love how the tone changes at the end with the character feeling regret. We see our character suffocating in “Debt Forest” when talking being let out into the harsh world after they snipped him off. The crushing beats on the downbeat tells us of our character just cannot take it as they never signed up for the obstacles that hinder our standard of living. Gross visualizations with “Talon” being next to this noise that just canvassed as much space as it possibly can with Kaser talking about split tongues and brain mush. It’s a song about someone’s self destruction, but what sounds grim about it is, it’s like they don’t want to be rescued. Despite “Charity Dinner” sounding uplifting our protagonist takes us on an acid trip of how he ends up in the hospital only to know how to feel again. “They did what they did, so I do what I do.” is such a profound bar. My favorite thing about “Drumming With Izzy” is the way Kaser has this nonchalance kept up while wishing for a sense of living even if it means dying. The hand drums definitely give a purpose of a man toppling down the metaphorical stairs.
The distortion on the snares is so infectious on “My Blush (Strength of The Critic)” and Death Grips fans would definitely be attracted to this. “Shoplifting” sounds so bizarre, but the vibrating vocal samplers and tingy snares is a texture I never knew I needed. The way the sound echoes makes this madness all the more fun as we might as well have fun if you get branded as a degenerate. “Legs in a Snare” is still one of my favorites and this single still stands the test of time and is just put on repeat all the time. The fried distortion from the samplers absolutely sends me and percussion does the job well on being catchy. “Yard Sale (230 Take)” on how brief it is, is definitely mosh pit material, he’s giving it all away. You can guess on what that is from the context clues given. “200 Bottles On Eviction” is a bittersweet goodbye for your sanity, but hey at least you can stop lying to yourself. It’s a message Kaser says in the first line, in which I will have you listen to.
I have very few complaints. It’s only if the beats weren’t interesting enough for me such as in “Talon” and “Charity Dinner”, I would’ve thought this album was perfect. It’s other than those two tracks (they’re still pretty good!), I still beseech you to listen to this.
This album is a beautiful chaotic mess. It is a rage room where they give you a hammer to just smash every object here. I love how we follow this protagonist’s destruction in all shapes and sizes. The group knows how taxing living can be, so they try to ease up as much tension as they can. By making us dance and mosh until we bleed. Living is so miserable, might as well make it fun. That’s the sole purpose of it essentially, to have fun. Is this place named Theft World, because we have to steal from it, or is it because they’ve been stealing from you? How you do with that information is up to you, because that’s the magic of free will. The one thing they can’t steal from you.
FAVORITE TRACKS: TWO LUCKS, JACKPOT, DEBT FOREST, DRUMMING WITH IZZY, MY BLUSH (STRENGTH OF THE CRITIC), SHOPLIFTING, LEGS IN A SNARE, YARD SALE (230 TAKE), 200 BOTTLES ON EVICTION
LEAST FAVORITE: TALON
You can purchase this album on Bandcamp and their discography is also available for streaming. Links down below.
[Bandcamp]﹡[Apple Music]﹡[TIDAL]
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